Category Archives for "Coach Nancy"

Stress is like the battle we all race through. We all strive for balance and stress free living yet I don't know anyone that has achieved that. Its more like we are needing to find a way to manage stress. Stress is known to cause inflammation inside our bodies. Inflammation and a rise in fight or flight hormones can be one of the leading causes of major health issues. Yet we tend to ignore the health risks because we can't ignore the stress. 

We need to battle or counteract the effects of stress on our bodies. That is what deep inhales and exhales can do for us using our hormones. A great night's sleep can do be our best defense against stress. Sleepless nights or restless sleep can have the opposite effect. Read some excellent strategies to counter a bad night's sleep. 

There are other ways to battle the effects of inflammation:  

• twenty minutes on a heating pad 
• time with the lacrosse ball and/or foam roller
• adding ice to our sore bodies
• massage
• a walk with a friend
• making a list of gratitude
• taking fish oil
• AND soaking in a detox bath can help in a lot of ways. 

That last one is the Hidden Remedy for Stress that so many of us do not take advantage of.

A detox bath will relax those muscles aching muscles but also just put your whole body at ease. Allowing your muscles to relax before you even hit the pillow gives you a jump start on those 7-8 hours of restful sleep.  Detox baths will also help to release toxins from our bodies that stress and food can cause. The heat does wonders and then knowing you are taking time for yourself helps to ease the stress levels. Its a win/win/ win/win.

Here is how I make my own Detox Bath Powder.  

1 cup Baking Soda

2 cups Epsom Salts

a few drops of lavender oil

Mix all of this together and pour into hot water (as hot as you can stand). Enjoy your bath. 

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

I love holiday traditions, and this is one of my favorite!

I am really excited to experience the energy at Cr8 Fitness this year, as we shake off the post-thanksgiving turkey coma and get back into action. How many people CAN we fit into the gym? Guess we are going to find out.

Join Coach Dean and I at our Annual Thanksgiving training- "Pies Off Your Thighs"; Saturday, November 24th at 8am.

Check out these cool pics from the archives!

We've come a long way in the last 10+ years. We're thankful for each one who has passed through out doors. Let's celebrate!

Bring your water bottle and your energy. We'll help you do the rest.

Pies off Your Thighs

Saturday, November 24th 8am

Cr8 Fitness - Epsom

Come make memories with us.

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Side Note: We will be training Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week of Thanksgiving at all our regular training times. 

Halloween is just behind us, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Christmas parties and the busyness of the Season jump into high gear when December rolls around. It doesn't stop because then the New Year is rung in. All of these things mean FOOD, FOOD and More FOOD!. Since food will be everywhere at every event, in every store, on each TV commercial, and on all the tables you pass. Its difficult not to eat, EAT and EAT MORE. 

Coach Dean and I have come up with a challenge for you. There are even real prizes at the end of this challenge. We're calling this challenge; "Hot for the Holidays". 

Hot for the Holidays is NOT:

• A HOT dog eating contest
• Consuming HOT spicy foods without any water
• Confining yourself to a HOT room without a fan
• H.O.T.  (a Herd Of Turtles) 
• a Calendar photo shoot (sorry 6pm)
• A vacation at the HOT Desert Spring Hotel

Hot for the Holidays is: 

• Keeping yourself on a Roll a.k.a. Staying HOT when it comes to keeping your weight the same. 
• Get HOT as in the game HOT/Cold, You'll want to stay close to your already amazing training regime.
• Become HOT as in speedy: Don't slow down your already great nutrition.
• You'll feel HOT, like Hot to trot, Because your body fat will remain the same or be less during the Holiday Season.

This is where the challenge lies. By November 26, that's a Monday, everyone will have stepped on the InBody scan for their entry into "Hot For the Holidays". On Tuesday January 8th everyone will have done at least one more InBody scan to close out the Holidays. Your goal is to keep your weight the same or lower. 

It sounds simple, two scans and BAM you're done. Yet we all know It will take attention to detail (food detail) to make those two scans match. I know you can do it. 

I promised everyone prizes. I mean everyone. Each person who keeps their weight the same or less between November 26th and January 8, 2019 will be invited to have dinner with your Coaches and their family. We'll cook. I promise it will be healthy choices and very yummy.

We'll help you succeed in any way we can. Here is to being "HOT for the Holidays"

Coach Nancy​​

I know often it is hard just to show up for things. Those Christmas parties that seem to be one right after the other, a dentist appointment right in the middle of the day, or even taking the dog to the vet can become a tasking chose. But what about change?

Change is hard too. Changing your routine from summer time to school schedule can be difficult. Changing from getting up at 6am to rolling out of bed at 4:30am is a big difference. Eating 1-2 serving of vegetables a day to 5-6 can seem near impossible. Daily life seems to get in the way of the change.

It reminds me of my first few months at the gym. I could barely do 5 pound weights. It was all they had in my size. (or so I thought). I used those weights for months. Over and over I'd pick them up. Then a new person showed up and took my weights before I could get there. I had to go the the ten pound weights. To my surprise I could do them. It wasn't that the day was special, it was all the reps I had already done. 
Keeping your focus is hard work. Keep showing up, the focus gets easier and then soon you'll be staying focused on your habit without even having to put much thought into it. 

Change is hard.

Show up. Do some reps. Those first repetitions could be very hard. Keep going. Keep on showing up.Those reps will get easier with more practice. Soon your routine will include those repetitions. ​

So if you're trying to add more veggies into your day, add them. Keep putting them on the menu plan. Keep buying them at the store. Keep making recipes that include them. The more they find their way onto your plate, the more it will become normal. 

It works. Show up and try it.

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

In nutrition, it is suggested that you eat until you are 80% full or until you have eaten just enough. Its like Goldilocks. You don't eat too much and you don't eat too little but just the right amount of food for you. When your desire is weight loss then adjusting the right amount or the right foods is the trick.

I often have a struggle when trying to decide when 80% full is. True confession: "I eat too fast and nibble too much." 

But if I think to eat just a tad bit less than usual, I accomplish the same thing.

I've tried the mind trick of using a lunch plate instead of a dinner plate for a few days. And it does work for awhile. I am smart enough to know I can push the food together a bit more or pile it a bit higher to FILL my lunch plate. 

I use that trick, but once I realize it isn't working, I play another one. I eat just a bit less. I don't leave food on my plate because that goes against my frugal no wasting policy. I just tend to take a smidge less of each serving of menu items at each meal. 

I eat 20% less. It almost doesn't even show on my plate. Three to four bites less at each meal for the whole meal. Easier to do for me than to try to figure out 80% full. 

There are times, like holidays or vacations, when I focus on 'No Seconds'. By doing that I can enjoy what I would like but I limit the amount by keeping to one plate full. 

I'm hoping these Mind Tricks help you like they do me.

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

Every year on Thanksgiving we load up our plate with all the wonderful foods we love. Next time you hit the gym load up your training plate in much the same way. 

Here's what I mean. At Cr8 Fitness we've designed your training program so that your body can get strong all over. 

What if you come in one day and your shoulders are tender from all the leaf raking you did over the weekend. Maybe your knee is bit swollen from a spill you took when you tripped on a small rut in the parking lot while grocery shopping last week. Since many of us at Cr8 Fitness are not spring chickens we tend to have stuff going on. 

That stuff doesn't have to stop us from training and training hard. We want to train smart. That is where Thanksgiving comes into the picture. Imagine for a moment that you come in on Tuesday with a slight "ick' in your shoulder. Everything else about you feels great. You just have a little something something and want to take it easy. Taking it easy is that 'polite portion' we usually take to please the hostess. Your polite portion of training might be stretching, foam rolling, or going without heavy weights for that day. BUT that polite portion doesn't apply to all of your training. As your coach I can help you determine which exercise is your polite portion while the rest of your 'Thanksgiving' Training plate can be loaded right up. 

Next time you train, use your 'Thanksgiving' Training plate. Load up your plate on everything that your body is ready for you and work with me to know what needs to just have a polite portion. 

Here is to enjoying Thanksgiving and always enjoying Thanksgiving at Cr8 Fitness's training. 

To your best Health,

Coach Nancy

​

Cr8 Fitness is partnering with Chichester Massage to fill our community's Food Banks. Take a peek so you can know "The Ins and Outs" of our plans and you can also take advantage and win. Everyone who participates will win. 

Chichester Massage Celebrates National Massage Therapy Awareness Week With Their 12th Annual Food Drive

National Massage Therapy Awareness Week is designed to raise public awareness about the benefits of massage. Chichester Massage is sponsoring their 12th annual food drive during the dates of National Massage Therapy Awareness Week.  

Many of our local food pantries are in need of assistance. We've partnered with Chichester Massage to help their food drive be even more successful. As a thank you for your food donation, Amy from Chichester Massage is giving you a $10 coupon to use at your next massage visit.  I call that a big win for you, a win for our food pantries, and a win for those in the community who rely on a little extra help now and then. 

 National Massage Therapy Awareness Week Oct. 22-27, 2018. During that week bring in a food item/s and in return you'll be a part of all that winning.

Here is a list of Urgently needed items: 

paper towels

toilet paper 

cleaning supplies 

canned tuna

soups

pastas/sauces

rice

baking mix

peanut butter

condiments

healthy cereals/snacks

hygiene items (toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, bar soap).  

Bonus Time: Chichester Massage will be offering free chair massages at their office on Route 4 on Thursday Oct. 25 from 5-7 and Friday Oct. 26 from 11-1 with a monetary or food donation.  

We will have bins available to accept donations throughout the week at CR8 Fitness and at Chichester Massage too.  Everyone who donates will receive a coupon for $10 off a massage.  All proceeds will go directly to local area food pantries.

Thank you in advance,

Dean and Nancy Carlson

Owners of Cr8 Fitness

Chichester Massage is located at 114 Dover Rd. (Route 4) in Chichester.  For more information please call 798-4669 or visit our website at   www.chichestermassage.com

About 3 years ago Dean and I came up with 20 top foods. We named our list “20 and a Spice Rack” because the spices you add to foods are immense and keep variety in your menu. Eating the foods on this list and adding those spices found in a traditional spice rack would supply you with the variety for each meal you eat. 

What is on your 20?

What do y'all think the results would be on your body comp and health if you ate exclusively from your 20 over the next 30 days?

Take a few minutes and create your own list of 20 foods. Could you do eat from that list of foods for one day? (remember these are one item ingredients you can cook with)

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

Its' my birthday and as I keep adding more and more candles to the cake each year, I also seem to take more time to reflect  on life. This is truly the best day ever and I want to make it that way for everyone I meet today.

Take the lesson from someone even older than I am. This was written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.”

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God.. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

Take if from Regina and I; Be a positive person. Show someone in your life that you care about them. Respect yourself.

Make It Happen!

Coach Nancy

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

Has this thought ever gone threw your mind: "I'll do that next week when things calm down a bit?"

I know I feel like that at times. I look at my To Do list and then at my watch. There are just not enough hours in the day to get all of the list done. I get that knot in my stomach and I haven't even started yet. 

While I would rather throw away my To Do list and go to the beach; I just start. That's right I pick one thing on my list and work on that ONE thing. Then I go to the next item, get it done and so on and so on. Soon I have much of my list completed. I usually run out of working hours but my list for the most part is checked off. The things not done I move to the top of my list and work on them next time. 

What does that have to do with YOU? Everything. I know you have moments like that. In fact some of you have moments like that at the gym. There are days when you walk in the gym after a bad night's sleep, your neck has that crick in it, your knees are aching from that ski trip you took as a teen that ended up in the ER, and at work you bent down to pick up your pencil, now your back hurts. You're feeling like you won't be able to get anything done in the gym. With me at your side, we rearrange a few thing and you leave feeling accomplished and successful. 

More often than not its your eating that causing stress. You rush out the door without breakfast, also forgetting the lunch you packed. Now you're late and hungry. Your co-worker had a birthday yesterday so you head to the break room hoping there is a piece left. Score! the janitor left you a piece and someone brought in donuts. Since you already ruined the whole day by being late, why not add two donuts to it? By the time you get to Cr8 Fitness that afternoon you feel defeated. All those wonderful things you had planned to eat, didn't get eaten. Instead you chose to eat all the foods you had said you wouldn't. Sound familiar? How can you get yourself turned around? Do one thing, start with one choice and get it done. Then move onto the next choice- do that, and keep making it happen. What could have been a totally unsuccessful day, turns around quickly and you lay your head on your pillow knowing your dinner and snack choices were fantastic. 

Here is your take away. Do one thing, do it well. Relish in the success of that one thing then repeat. 

Every challenge we face can be conquered by taking it one step (or one bite) at a time.

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy